Study: Younger vets have higher suicide risk

Lisa Chedekel, Conn. Health I-Team Writer

Published
1:00 am EST, Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Justin Eldridge and his wife, Joanna Eldridge. Justin, a Marine from Waterford, Conn. suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury after a deployment to Afghanistan in 2004-05. Despite stints in VA hospitals and an array of medications, he killed himself in his home on Oct. 28, 2013. He was 31. less

Justin Eldridge and his wife, Joanna Eldridge. Justin, a Marine from Waterford, Conn. suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury after a deployment to Afghanistan in 2004-05. ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo, Courtesy Of Eldridge Family

Photo: Contributed Photo, Courtesy Of Eldridge Family

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Justin Eldridge and his wife, Joanna Eldridge. Justin, a Marine from Waterford, Conn. suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury after a deployment to Afghanistan in 2004-05. Despite stints in VA hospitals and an array of medications, he killed himself in his home on Oct. 28, 2013. He was 31. less

Justin Eldridge and his wife, Joanna Eldridge. Justin, a Marine from Waterford, Conn. suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury after a deployment to Afghanistan in 2004-05. ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo, Courtesy Of Eldridge Family

Study: Younger vets have higher suicide risk

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Justin Eldridge's family will never fully understand why nothing seemed to ease the anguish of the young Marine and father of five, as he wrestled with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury after a deployment to Afghanistan in 2004-05. Despite stints in VA hospitals and an array of medications, he killed himself in his Waterford home on Oct. 28, 2013. He was 31.

"He did his part -- he followed the treatment they gave him," said his widow, Joanna Eldridge, who is now raising their children alone. "It just wasn't enough, in terms of following up with him and figuring out why he wasn't getting better. ... We just have to do better at helping these guys after they get home."

A new study suggests that the suicide risk for veterans who served in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is significantly higher -- 41 to 61 percent higher -- than for the general population. The study, led by Department of Veterans Affairs and Army researchers, is the most comprehensive look to date at the suicide risk for veterans who were on active duty during the recent wars.

The analysis -- to be published next month in the journal Annals of Epidemiology -- found that the suicide rate was the highest among veterans during the first three years after leaving military service, and that the risk was elevated for both deployed and non-deployed service members. Suicide rates were not significantly different for those who deployed once, like Eldridge, and those who deployed multiple times.

The study notes that before the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the suicide rates among active duty and former military personnel had been 20 percent to 30 percent lower than the U.S. general population. But the recent wars are "substantially different" from Vietnam or the first Gulf War, with veterans serving longer tours, deploying multiple times, and suffering different kinds of injuries, many from blasts.

In addition, absent a draft, the recent conflicts may have attracted more volunteers "who may have a higher level of risk-taking behaviors" and who face economic stress and employment problems when they transition home.

The study comes as U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pushes efforts to revive a suicide-prevention bill that died last year. The bill, which passed the House earlier this month, would require an outside review of existing suicide-prevention programs at the Department of Defense and the VA to gauge their effectiveness, and make recommendations for improvement. It also calls for more online and community outreach mental health services and includes incentives to attract psychiatrists to work with veterans.

The new study does not propose reforms to stem veterans' suicides, but instead examines patterns within the 1,868 suicide deaths of veterans who had served between 2001 and 2007 and who left the military during that time. It identified suicides through Dec. 31, 2009.

Male veterans were three times more likely than females to kill themselves, the study found. But the suicide risk for women veterans, when compared to women in the U.S. population, was greater than the difference in risk between male veterans and civilians.

Joanna Eldridge, who was in Washington on Tuesday to attend the State of the Union address as Blumenthal's guest, said she supports the proposed bill and wants to help bring attention to the need for more resources for veterans with PTSD.

In the five years before Justin's death, she said, he struggled with depression and alcohol and drug addiction. After his first suicide attempt in 2008, the VA told the couple that Justin would have to wait three weeks for specialized treatment, she recalled. She contacted her congressman, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, and Blumenthal, then the state's attorney general, to intervene. The VA admitted Justin three days later.

While she is grateful for the help her husband did receive, Joanna said, "I just don't feel like he got the correct treatment. There was a lot of changing his medications -- sometimes he'd be in a zombie state."

She became his full-time caregiver, supporting him as he kicked alcohol and drugs -- but watching helplessly as he spiraled into despair.

"I think he just had enough of the pain," she said. "He didn't want to see it and feel it anymore."